Crooked Sticks

Isaiah forty four twenty four through the end of chapter

forty five is where we're going to be this morning,

Starting in verse twenty four. All right, we've got all

our things, got all our glasses. Right, we're ready. Let's

read the passage. You can read along as I read aloud.

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, who formed you from

the womb. I am the Lord who made all things,

who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the

earth by myself, Who frustrates the signs of liars and

makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and

makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant,

and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says, of

Jerusalem she shall be inhabited, and of the cities of

Judah they shall be built. I will raise up their ruins.

Who says to the deep be dry, I will dry

up your rivers. Who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd,

and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying, of Jerusalem

she shall be built, and of the Temple your foundation

shall be laid. Thus says the Lord to his anointed,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue

nations before him, to loose the belts of kings, to

open doors before him, that gates may not be closed.

I will go before you and level the exalted places.

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and

cut through the bars of iron. I will give you

the treasures of darkness and the hordes in secret places,

that you may know that it is I, the Lord,

the God of Israel, who call you by your name,

for the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel might chosen.

I call you by your name. I name you, though

you do not know me. I am the Lord, and

there is no other beside me.

There is no god.

I equip you though you do not know me, that

people may know from the rising of the sun and

from the west that there is none beside me. I

am the Lord, and there is no other. I form

darkness and create form light and create darkness. I make

well being and create calamity. I am the Lord who

does all these things. Shower o heavens from above, and

let the clouds rain down righteousness. Let the earth open

that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit. Let the earth

cause them to sprout, I the Lord have created it.

Woe to him who strives with him who formed him

a pot amongst earth and mins pots? Does the clay

say to him who formed it?

What are you making?

Or your work has no handles? Woe to him who

says to a father, what are you begetting?

Or to a woman with what are you in labor?

Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and

the one who formed him, ask me of things to come?

Will you command me concerning my children and the work.

Of my hands.

I made the earth and created man on it. It

was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I

commanded all their host I have stirred him up in righteousness,

and I will make all his ways level. He shall

build my city and set my exiles free, not for

price or reward, says the Lord of Hosts. Thus says

the Lord. The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Kush,

and the Sabians, men of stature, shall come over to

you and be yours. They shall follow you. They shall

come over in chains and bow down to you. They

will plead with you, saying, surely God is in you,

and there is no other, no God.

Beside him.

Truly, you are a God who hides himself, a God,

Oh God of Israel, the Savior. All of them are

put to shame and confounded. The makers of idols go

in confusion together. But Israel is saved by the Lord

with everlasting salvation. You shall not be put to shame

or confounded to all eternity. For thus says the Lord

who created the heavens. He is God who formed the

earth and made it. He established it. He did not

create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited. I

am the Lord, and there is no other. I did

not speak in secret in a land of darkness. I

did not say to the offspring of Jacob, seek me

in vain. I the Lord speak the truth. I declare

what is right. Assemble yourselves and come draw near together,

you survivors of the nations.

They have no.

Knowledge, who carry about their wooden idols and keep on

praying to a God that cannot save. Declare and present

your case. Let them take counsel together. Who told this

long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not

I the Lord? There is no god beside me, a

righteous God and a savior. There is none beside me

turn to me and be saved all the ends of

the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

By myself. I have sworn from my mouth has gone

out in righteousness, a word that shall not return to me.

Every need shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.

Only in the Lord.

It shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength

to him shall come and be ashamed all who were

incensed against him. In the Lord, all the offspring of

Israel shall be justified and shall glory. This is the

word of the Lord. Have you ever heard this expression?

God draws straight lines with crooked sticks.

I'm looking.

I'm seeing like ten percent, maybe fifteen, I don't know.

Here's what it means. Here's what it means. God draws

lines with crooked six or you don't have to question

that God draws lines with crooked sticks. In other words,

God is at work in the world doing what he

sees fit. And he uses instruments that.

That are very flawed.

Crooked sticks, sometimes more than just deeply flawed, wicked, and

he grasps those sticks and does what he sees fit in.

His world for his purposes. And that's a glorious thing.

It was a pretty important message for the people of

who were receiving this rioting, because there they were in Babylon.

They're in Babylon, they're struggling, they're under discipline, they have

just started putting together their own kind of way of

things away from the land, and now they hear word

that there is another conqueror coming, and they're like, oh man,

this is out of the frying pan into the fire.

There is a weirder, worse, more wicked conqueror coming that

the Babylonians are even afraid of coming to Babylonia. This

is discouraging. We're never gonna get home, We're never gonna survive.

But their hearts needed to understand by faith that God

draws straight lines with crooked sticks, and God's people today

aren't much different, as God is at work in our

lives and wider than just our lives, in our families,

in our communities, in our churches, in our world, and

even beyond our little timeline. God is at work, He

is on the move, and he.

Is using crooked sticks.

Praise God. And in scripture we find this message. You

don't have to question that God draws straight lines with

crooked sticks. But we find it's actually more than that.

What we find in God's word is we find out

how we can come to a place understanding by faith

in our hearts that God draws straight line with crooked sticks.

There's one thing to understand that theoretically in our heads.

It's another thing to trust him from the heart. How

do we get there? And that's our question. In order

to get there, I think we have to take it

in four parts number one, Part one, straight lines, Part two,

crooked sticks, Part three questioning, and part four it's for you.

So straight lines, crooked sticks, questioning, and it's for you.

How can we get to the place that in our hearts,

by faith we understand and trust God drives straight lines

with crooked sticks. Well, let's talk about the straight lines.

Let's talk about the straight lines. That's part one. God

is saying here right from the get go, I have

lines I'm gonna draw. I have purposes. And when I

say I have lines I'm gonna draw, they shall be

drawn right Verse twenty eight. I have the power, I've

got the plan, and I shall fulfill my purpose, says

I have the power Verse twenty four. I formed you,

I made all things. I stretched out the heavens, I

spread out the earth.

I think he's trying to make the point.

I've got all the power, and I've got a plan.

Right verse twenty five, I frustrate and fool and turn

back liars and diviners and wise men, and I confirm

and fulfill my servants and my messengers. And he lays

out these shall bees Verses twenty six to twenty eight

shall bees. You know what I mean, my shall bees.

Jerusalem shall be inhabited. I got plans, I got lines,

I'm gonna draw them. Judah shall be built. I got

lines I'm gonna draw. My purpose shall be fulfilled. The

Temple's foundations shall be laid. I've got lines, I'm gonna

draw them.

And that's.

True all the way down the line. That is for

God's people today, that's what we see. God's lines shall

be drawn. God says, my power, my plan, shall fulfill

my purpose. And there's lots of purposes we don't know.

But He's also given us a lot of purposes.

He's told us.

There are a lot of shall bees in God's work,

in God's word for our lives, and beyond our lives,

wider than our lives, beyond our timelines. There are a

lot of shall bees, there are lines He's gonna draw.

Shall we go over a few? My people shall be forgiven,

sinners shall be adopted. Those who believe in Him shall

not perish, but inherit eternal life. The fruit of the

spirit shall be growing, and those who walk in the spirit.

Wisdom shall be given to those who ask. His Church

shall be built, and the gates of hell will not

prevail against it. A way of escape shall be provided.

When you face temptation. The broken hearted shall be drawn

to the eternal weight of glory shall be laid up.

As we face these light and momentary afflictions. The perishable

shall be clothed with imperishable, and every tear shall be

wiped away. It's just a sample, God says. Thus says

the Lord, I have the power, I have the plan.

I shall fulfill my purpose. And that all sounds pretty wonderful.

And yet.

What we've read and what we've seen, and what's true

of God's people today too, is that there isn't just pure,

unmitigated excitement about God fulfilling all his purposes. What's the problem. Well,

part of the problem is how he goes about it.

How God is going to work these things out, is

teased in verse twenty eight because although I put it

this way, my power and my plan will fulfill all

my purposes. You may have looked down there and looked

at verse twenty eight and said, well, that's true, pastor,

it's his power, it's his plan. That's all very true.

But he says specifically, there's an aspect of his plan

called Cyrus. He says, Cyrus, he's my shepherd. He shall

fulfill all my purpose. Who's Cyrus? Cyrus is a crooked stick.

He is an instrument that God is using to fulfill

his plan by his power. And he is a very

very crooked stick, which gets us the part too. How again,

how are we going to get to the place where

in our hearts by faith we trust we understand that

God draws straight lines with crooked sticks. We got to

understand straight lines, beautiful, glorious plans and promises that God

is going to draw, and many we don't know. We

also got to understand crooked sticks. Because this is what

he says about crooked sticks, Cyrus. He even calls him

his anointed, whose right hand I have grasped. That's the

worst that is the worst more violent conqueror that we

were talking about up.

At the top.

Cyrus is a violent pagan overlord. This guy betrayed his

grand father, slaughtered thousands, probably hundreds of thousands. He was

so feared that people would rather abandon their cities and

their territories other than be conquered. Rather than be conquered

by his armies, Babylon gave up without much of a fight.

He's a very crooked stick. Not a good guy, but

a good God is using Cyrus.

He says his right hand, I have grasped verse one,

to subdue nations, to open doors. God says to him

in verses two and three.

I will go before you to level places.

I will break doors.

I will give you treasure.

In other words, there's going to be astonishing destruction taking

place by this crooked stick, whose hand God has grasped,

and who God names. He says in verse four, I

call you by name. I name you, though you do

not know me. And this is this is written one

hundred and fifty years before Cyrus is even born. Isaiah

has written out this prophecy. So this is like God

playing eight ball and calling a bank shot into the

side pocket. He's like here's where it's going. Give me

one hundred and fifty years.

There you go.

And his name is Cyrus, so that everyone would know.

So that Cyrus would know, he says in verse three

that you may know it it is that it is I,

and the whole world would know right verse six, that

people would know from the rising of the sun and

from the west, that everyone would know who it is

that grasps crooked sticks and draws lines by his own

power and his own plan. And the point is not

that God will always declare ahead of time what crooked

sticks he's gonna use, but he does declare that here

so that we would always know that it is God

who does these things. Are there other leaders used like Cyrus?

Of course, there isn't a leader or a person who

isn't a stick in God's hand moving in the ways

that he sees fit. As God says in verse seven,

I form light and create darkness. I make well being

and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all

these things. And then in verse eighty closes with this

this word of blessing on his own word, he says,

and verse eight, shower o heavens right, let.

The clouds rain down.

Let my word go out and then grow up and

bear the fruit that it's meant to bear. Every word

goes out, it will not return void. That's what God

is saying.

Let it happen.

In other words, God's plan is going to come about

as he has purposed it, because, as it turns out, Cyrus.

Is a multiculturalist.

He's a violent pagan overlord that conquers.

Empires.

But unlike the Babylonian Empire that tried to assimilate cultures

into their own, Cyrus's approach is I'm going to conquer you,

and I'm going to attacks the pants off of you.

But you have your God. They have their God. We've

got our God. You've got your culture, they've got their culture.

You can go do your thing. You just belong to me.

And so.

Under the rule of this violent multiculturalist, God sends his

people home. God's lines get drawn no matter how crooked

the sticks.

Doesn't this sound familiar.

That God would grasp the crooked stick of Joseph being

sold into slavery, into Egypt, imprisoned there only to be calm,

the very thing God uses to rescue his entire family

and began the nation of Israel, that God would grasp

the crooked stick of the persecution of the Church in Jerusalem.

Jesus has said, you're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem

and Judea and Samarian to the ends of the earth.

But they're just staying right there in Jerusalem. And God

takes that crooked stick of persecution. He says, and you

know how you're gonna get to the ends of the earth,

You're gonna be scattered.

Or the imprisonment of Paul.

God grasped the crooked stick of Paul's imprisonment. And Paul says,

here's the straight line that God is drawing. He's drawing

straight to the advancement of the Gospel amongst the imperial guard.

That's why I'm here. That's not Paul saying I like

being in prison.

That's Paul saying.

God is always drawing straight lines with the crooked stings.

Consider God grasping the crookedest stick in all of history,

the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, to draw a straight line

of grace to you, which means we have to ask,

am I okay, Am I okay? With God grasping these

things I don't like.

In my life to draw his perfect lines?

Am I okay with God grasping cancer in my body

to draw his perfect lines? Does my heart trust him

that much? Am I okay with God grasping estrangement from

my family to draw his perfect lines in my life,

or in my family, or in my community or even

beyond my lifetime? Am I okay with God grasping the

crooked stick of church hurt or financial trouble to do

what he sees fit? And does my heart actually trust.

Him with that?

These are not good things, but a good God uses

all things for good for those who love him. As

he says in verse one, this is the one whose

right hand I have grasped.

And when we ask, am I okay with that?

Maybe for most of us, maybe even most of the time,

the response is.

Yeah, I'm okay with that.

But for some of us, and I'll just go out

go ahead and say for all of us, some of

the time our response is more like, I've got questions.

Why should I be okay with God doing this? Why

does he need to use an instrument at all? Why

does he need to use a crooked stick at all?

Like more miracles please? And if he's going to use

a stick.

Why this.

Sounds like the kind of questions that God's people were

asking in the face of exactly this, which is how

we get to part three, understanding questioning right, understanding straight lines,

understanding crooked sticks, and then understanding questioning.

If we're going to get.

To the place where our hearts actually trust by faith,

understand by faith that God does do this. He draws

straight lines with crooked sticks, and I trust him from

the heart to do that. Then I have to understand

some things about questions and questioning, which are not the

same thing. Asking questions and questioning are not the same thing.

If you have children, you are understand that already perfectly.

There's a difference between asking questions. But Dad, I was

just curious. I was just wondering, like, how does this work?

I answer those questions all day long, And then there's

those other questions, the questioning, the accusing, And to that

God responds like, for instance, from verse eleven, will you

command the work of my hands, which you could also

translate command question, will you question the work of my hands?

And he says in verse nine, woe to him who

strives with him who formed him. You're a pot you

are clay and you're saying, I really don't like the

way you're working this out, or my favorite, your work

has no handles. I wasn't making handles. That's how I'm

the master potter. You are the clay, or better, the

one who questions the father or mother, what are you making?

Can you imagine walking up to a woman who's breaking

in and she's like, I really don't like the way

you're working things out in there. I don't like that

how you're putting things together. And yet, don't you have

the impulse I know I do. Don't you have the

impulse to say, as God uses very crooked sticks in

our lives, or our families or our church, don't you

have the impulse to say, look, I thought you were

against these things, and now you're taking them by the hand.

And one of God's.

Responses in scripture is, will you question the work on

my hands? Like I made the earth, I stretched out

the heavens.

It's like his answer to.

Where were you? Where were you when I measured out

the foundations of the earth? Where were you when I

walk in the caverns of the deep? Do you know

where I keep the snow?

Do the lightning.

Bolts answered to you, will you question the work of

my hands? And most of the time in life and

in scripture, his purposes remain hidden.

But sometimes.

Sometimes he reveals his purpose, and I think he does

so in order for us to understand his heart.

All the time. He says in verse thirteen, he.

Shall build my city and set my exiles free. And again,

the point isn't that God always declares the good lines

that he's drawing. He usually doesn't, as E. K. Bailey says,

God does not usually give us a pre flight itinerary.

But as we step into the way of obedience, many

times he reveals some things.

And what we need to.

Know from his word is He's always drawing good lines.

All things work together for good for those who love him.

And so yes, one of God's responses in Scripture to

our questioning is, will you question the work of my hands?

That's true, that's there. But the Christian faith is more

than just stoicism or fatalism. The full the lesson of

scripture is deeper.

Listen.

The fuller lesson of scripture is deeper than just you

cannot question the work of God's hands. The fuller lesson

of scripture is you can trust the character of God's heart.

How do we get there? How do we get there? Well,

that brings us the part four. It's for you, it's

for you, And we actually see that in two pieces.

The first piece is the straight line that he's drawn

for your. God ultimately draws a line for you that

looks like this. It's in verse twenty three. Ultimately he

draws this line to me. Every knee shall bow, every

tongue shall swear allegiance.

Which.

The word allegiance there is not how we would normally

think of it. I think in English we usually think

of allegiant as like I pledge allegiance to the flag,

like I'm in on this. This is more like every

mouth will swear the truth about me, whether they like

it or not. Right, every tongue will confess, every tongue

will confess, either in worship or in mere submission. Every

knee will bow, either in praise or in mere admission. So,

and that's clear in verses twenty four and twenty five,

I mean he says they're gonna say righteousness and strength

only in the Lord, or righteousness and strength to Him

shall come and be a sh shamed all who were

incensed against him. In the Lord, all the offspring of

Israel shall be justified and shall glory. Every knee will bow,

some in worship, some in submission. Every tongue will confess,

some in praise, some in admission. So as God draws

the line, it isn't between people who bow and people

who don't. Everyone will bow. It's between people who bow

in worship and those who bow in submission. And the

question is which side of the line are you going

to be on? And here's the thing. Throughout this whole passage,

it sure seems like the right side of that line,

worship and praise is reserved for Israel, just Israel. He

says he's gonna bring other nations to Israel. They're gonna

plead with you verse fourteen, saying, surely God is in you,

there's no other. And as God does that, as the

line he draws seems to put Israel on one side

and everyone else on the other. In verse fifteen, truly

you are God who hides himself, Oh God of Israel,

the Savior. All of them are put to shaman, confounded

makers of idols going into confusion hold together.

But Israel.

Is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation, you shall

not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.

He goes on in verse nineteen, I did not say

to the offspring of Jacob, seek me in vain, But

verse twenty they have no knowledge, who carry on carry

their wooden idols and pray to God that cannot save.

So the question becomes, is there a way that you

can get in on this what he calls everlasting salvation?

Is there a way that you can get in on

this shall be justified and shall glory? And when verse

twenty two says, turn to me and be saved all

the ends of the earth, is there a way for

you to do that? Is there a covenant for you

to enter? Is there a sacrifice for your sins? And

that's the good news that Paul declares to the Philippians,

who are hundreds of years and hundreds of miles and

separated from these promises. And he declares to them, by

picking up this very verse, to me, every knee shall

bow and every tongue shall no. I'll swear allegiance, shall confess.

He declares that to the Philippians, and by extension, to you.

Who are just as separated. He declares.

Philippians chapter two, is there a way for you to

get in on this? And the answer is yes, By

the most crooked stick there ever was.

Christ. Jesus, though he.

Was in the form of God, did not count to

quality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied

himself by taking the form of a servant, and being

born in the likeness of men, and being found in

human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the

point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God

has highlight exalted him and bestowed on him the name

that is above every name, so that at the name

of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth

and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ.

Is Lord to the glory of God, the Father.

God has drawn the most beautiful line for you. You shall

not be put to shame or confounded for all eternity.

You shall be justified and shall glory. And He has

drawn this beautiful line by using the most crooked stick.

In other words, God hasn't just issued the call to

the ends of the earth for you. He has paid

the price for you, for the sins of all who

would come to him from the ends of the earth

and cover their guilt. How can we, in our hearts

understand by faith that God draws straight lines with crooked sticks.

It's not just a matter of understanding he's done it before,

he has, and it's not just a matter of understanding

that he's in control and you're not.

He is. It's understanding this in.

The heart of God, that the one who made the

earth and stretched out the heavens, subjected himself to the

most crooked stick, the evil and the violence of the cross,

to draw the most beautiful line for you, that you

could turn to him and be saved all the ends

of the earth. That with every other knee you would

bow and worship, and with every other tongue you would

confess in praise that Jesus Christ.

Is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Let's stand and pray. Lord God, we asked that you

would drive this into our hearts. Would you drive into

our heart the truth that yes, you draw straight lines

with crooked sticks, That yes, you've done it before and

you will continue to do it again. That it's your

prerogative that you stretched out the earth and stretched out

the heavens by your hands.

You're in control and we're not. Lord.

All of those truths we need to receive. And yet, Lord,

would you drive this truth deeper that we we're not

only in a position to not question your hand, we're

actually in a position to admire the character of your

heart because you have demonstrated your grace and your mercy

as well as your power and your plan.

We can trust.

Your heart because you've shown it to us on the cross,

where you have drawn the most beautiful line for all

who had come to you, and you've done it with

the most crooked stick in history. Order would that shape

our hearts and shape our faith? We ask in Jesus' name, Amen,